RIBA Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture
At its meeting of 20 November 2020, the Board decided that the above qualification should continue to be prescribed until 31 March 2025* under Section 4(1)(a) of the Architects Act 1997 for the purposes of entry onto the United Kingdom Register of Architects.
Prescription is subject to the Standard Conditions set out in the Board’s Procedures, namely:
a. The Royal Institute of British Architects North West Region’s RIBA Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture (12 months, part-time) qualification should be prescribed for the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2025.*
b. Prescription of the qualification shall be by reference to the Programme Specification – submitted with the application of 14 September 2019 – for the RIBA Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture (12 months, part-time) qualification. No change may be made to the title of any qualification, or material change to the content so defined within a programme specification (allowing for normal course development) without first obtaining the written permission of the Board.
c. Annually by 31 January – commencing on 31 January 2021 – the institution will be required to provide the Board with information of the nature set out in Appendix 2 of its Procedures to enable the Board to see that:
i. All its Criteria and the relevant requirements set out in Article 46 (or Article 47) of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive [2005/36/EC] have been attained by all candidates awarded the prescribed qualification;
ii. Adequate systems are in place to ensure that all the Board’s Criteria will be met by candidates for the period of prescription;
iii. The institution’s resources remain as set out in its application and are adequate; and
iv. All of the factors referred to at Sections 10.2 and 10.3 of the Procedures continue to be demonstrated, and any conditions of prescription continue to be met.
d. The institution will ensure that appropriate procedures will be maintained so that all candidates undertaking a prescribed qualification are fully informed of the extent of the application of that qualification to entitlement to registration as an architect in circumstances in which the candidate lacks a required antecedent qualification, e.g. Part 2 without Part 1.
e. Following each and every set of examinations, the institution shall be required to submit to the Board its pass lists of graduating cohorts who have received the prescribed award.
The Board was confident that:
- All candidates awarded the qualification since the qualification was prescribed or last renewed had met all the Criteria;
- The systems used by the institution to ensure that all candidates awarded the qualification have met all the Criteria are adequate, and will continue to ensure that the Criteria are met for the future period of prescription; and
- The institution’s future plans and commitment are such that the institution will maintain its ability to ensure that all candidates awarded the qualification meet all the Criteria.
The Board additionally noted that since prescription of the qualification was last renewed, the institution’s annual monitoring submissions had been submitted after the relevant deadline on three occasions.
In line with the letter issued to all institutions on 1 July 2016 and as raised at SCHOSA’s summer meeting in July 2016, the Board agreed that the period of prescription should be reduced by one year given the three late annual monitoring submissions.
* At its meeting of 27 February 2023, the Board agreed to extend prescription until 31 December 2028.
